There are some days in the offseason where it feels like the entire division moves at once. Today was one of those days. Toronto punched the league in the mouth by locking up Dylan Cease on a seven year, 210 million dollar deal, adding yet another strikeout monster to a rotation that already helped send the Yankees home in the ALDS.
On the Yankees side, we did not get a splashy transaction, but we did get something almost as important: a very public outline of what the front office wants this winter to look like.
A national column on MLB’s site laid out three explicit goals for the rest of the Yankees’ offseason: bring back Cody Bellinger, add pitching depth everywhere, and figure out what to do with Jasson Dominguez. A separate report framed the rumored blueprint around Bellinger as the top position player priority, Japanese right hander Tatsuya Imai as the big pitching target, and Kyle Tucker as the Plan B superstar bat if Bellinger ends up elsewhere.
For a fan who spends way too much time thinking about roster construction, this is catnip. It is also a reminder that the clock is ticking, because the rest of the AL East is not waiting around for the Yankees to get organized.
Goal 1: Bring Back Cody Bellinger
Let me start with the obvious one.
If you read between the lines of everything that came out today, the Yankees are treating Cody Bellinger as the centerpiece of their offseason. He is coming off a season where he hit .272 with 29 homers, 98 RBI and an .814 OPS in 152 games, the kind of all around production that made him one of the Yankees’ most valuable players in 2025.
This is not just about the bat either. Bellinger’s ability to play all three outfield spots plus first base is exactly the sort of flexibility this roster has lacked in recent years. The front office clearly wants him back so they can:
- Keep Aaron Judge mostly in right field instead of grinding him through center every day.
- Let Bellinger and Trent Grisham handle the more demanding outfield assignments.
- Have a real defensive option at first if they want to rotate bats through DH.
I love this priority, in theory. Bellinger fits Yankee Stadium, he fits this lineup, and he fits the way they want to mix and match around Judge. The problem is that the rest of the league watched the same season we did. The Dodgers are lurking. The Mets are lurking. A player with his track record and versatility is always going to have a deep market.
Reports today made it sound like the Yankees see Bellinger as Plan A and Kyle Tucker as the “if we somehow lose this game of musical chairs” option. Tucker is younger and might be the better long term player, but he does not bring the same defensive versatility, and his price tag is expected to be even higher.
If the front office is serious about Bellinger as the centerpiece, this is one of those moments where they cannot afford to get cute. Waiting around while the rest of the market moves is how you end up with neither Bellinger nor Tucker and an offseason that feels like a missed opportunity before it even really starts.
Goal 2: Add Pitching Depth Everywhere
The other big theme from today is something I have been yelling about since the ALDS: the Yankees need more pitching, not just in the headline spots, but across the entire staff.
On paper, the projected 2026 rotation looks like a dream: Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Cam Schlittler, with Clarke Schmidt and others in the mix later in the year. In practice, every single one of those names comes with a question mark attached.
- Cole is coming back from Tommy John surgery and is expected to miss Opening Day.
- Rodón had a bone spur removed from his pitching elbow in October.
- Gil is still building back up after his own Tommy John and was limited in 2025.
- Schlittler has fewer than 90 regular season innings in the big leagues.
- Schmidt will miss most of 2026 after his own elbow surgery.
You do not need to be an injury expert to see how fragile that is.
Today’s reporting made it clear the Yankees know this. They already re-signed lefty swingman Ryan Yarbrough to eat bulk innings, and they have checked in on multiple external options, including Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai and a possible reunion with Michael King.
I like the Imai idea a lot. He fits the Fried mold as a strike throwing, bat missing starter entering his prime, and both the general manager and owner have openly talked about how long it has been since the Yankees landed a difference maker from Japan. Adding Imai on top of Fried and a rebounding Cole would give the Yankees exactly what they lacked when Toronto was running out arm after arm in October: a rotation that can go toe to toe with anyone in a short series.
At the same time, the Cease contract is a flashing warning sign. The Blue Jays just committed 7 years and 210 million dollars to a strikeout machine, on top of the staff that beat the Yankees this year. The arms race is very real, and if the Yankees are not aggressive, they risk watching a division rival run away from them on the mound.
Goal 3: Figure Out “The Martian”
The third big piece of today’s blueprint is the one that might quietly shape the next decade of Yankees baseball: what exactly are they going to do with Jasson Dominguez?
On pure tools, Dominguez is still everything scouts dreamed about. In reality, his 2025 season was a mixed bag. Over 381 at bats he hit .257 with a .331 on base percentage and a .388 slugging percentage, good for a .719 OPS. That is roughly league average offense from a 22 year old, which is not a disaster but also not the immediate stardom the hype train promised.
The real issue is the glove. By the numbers, Dominguez was one of the worst outfielders in baseball this past season, posting minus 10 Outs Above Average in left field. By the end of the year he was mostly a bench piece, logging only one inning in the playoffs.
That is why today’s goal three – “figure out what to do with The Martian” – jumped out at me. This is not just about whether he starts in left field on Opening Day. It is about deciding whether he is:
- An everyday corner outfielder the team lives with defensively while hoping the bat erupts.
- A player you move back to center and hope the reads improve with experience.
- A trade chip if another club believes it can unlock the full package.
As a fan, I still want to see it happen here. There is something romantic about the idea of Dominguez, Judge and Bellinger flying around the same outfield. As a writer, I can’t ignore how poor the defensive metrics are and how important run prevention has become in October. The fact that the front office is openly framing Dominguez as a “problem to solve” tells me they are at least being honest about the risk.
What I Like, What Worries Me
Taken together, I actually like a lot of what we learned today.
The Yankees are not pretending their 94 win season and ALDS exit were good enough. The blueprint acknowledges the need for a more dynamic outfield, more high end pitching, and a real decision on Dominguez’s role. It lines up with what most of us have been screaming about for months.
I also like that the targets are premium. Bellinger, Imai, Tucker, this is not dumpster diving. This is trying to stack stars on top of a core that already includes Aaron Judge and Max Fried.
My concern is the same one I always have this time of year: will ownership actually follow through, especially with Hal Steinbrenner already floating that it would be “ideal” to bring payroll down from its current level. You cannot both chase the top of the market and treat the luxury tax line like a brick wall. At some point, reality forces you to choose.
I also worry about the downside scenario where the Yankees finish second on Bellinger, watch Imai sign somewhere else, talk themselves into a couple of mid rotation arms and shorter term bats, and try to sell everyone on the idea that “internal improvement” will carry the day. That was fine in years when the division was softer. In an AL East where Toronto is spending 210 million on another ace, it feels like wishful thinking.
What I Will Be Watching Next
For me, the next few weeks come down to three questions.
- Do the Yankees move quickly on Bellinger to keep the market from spiraling, or do they let this drag out and risk a bidding war with the Dodgers and Mets.
- Is the interest in Imai real enough that they are willing to go to the aggressive end of what Japanese starters have gotten in recent years, or is this another “checked in but never close” situation.
- What kind of language do we start hearing around Dominguez – do they talk about him as a fixture, a work in progress or a player they are willing to listen on in trades.
Today mattered because it turned a vague “we need to get better” offseason into something much more specific. We know the goals. We know the names. We also know that the rest of the division is not standing still.
